Levi Delaying 'Soft Jeans' Ads

A proposed "Soft Jeans" campaign by TBWA/Chiat/Day for Levi Strauss & Co., which was supposed to break this fall, has been postponed until next year at the earliest, sources said. The shift in ad strategy comes as the San Francisco-based apparel maker prepares to reorganize brand teams and cut back ad spending for the rest of 1998. The "Soft Jeans" work, which the shop's San Francisco office has been developing for months, was supposed to succeed the "Hard Jeans" ads now drawing to a close. But sources said Levi may instead run new "youth-oriented" spots from the agency instead. Brad Williams, manager of product publicity for Levi's jeans, confirmed "Hard Jeans" ads were ending as part of Levi's strategy to use multiple campaigns to "surprise" consumers. "We've moved away from running a campaign into the ground, and need to reinforce our relevance with young people," he said. "We're happy with 'Hard Jeans,' but never intended for it to turn the Levi's brand around." Separately, Williams confirmed more executive changes would come this week affecting brand management teams across all Levi's divisions.

A proposed "Soft Jeans" campaign by TBWA/Chiat/Day for Levi Strauss & Co., which was supposed to break this fall, has been postponed until next year at the earliest, sources said. The shift in ad strategy comes as the San Francisco-based apparel maker prepares to reorganize brand teams and cut back ad spending for the rest of 1998. The "Soft Jeans" work, which the shop's San Francisco office has been developing for months, was supposed to succeed the "Hard Jeans" ads now drawing to a close. But sources said Levi may instead run new "youth-oriented" spots from the agency instead. Brad Williams, manager of product publicity for Levi's jeans, confirmed "Hard Jeans" ads were ending as part of Levi's strategy to use multiple campaigns to "surprise" consumers. "We've moved away from running a campaign into the ground, and need to reinforce our relevance with young people," he said. "We're happy with 'Hard Jeans,' but never intended for it to turn the Levi's brand around." Separately, Williams confirmed more executive changes would come this week affecting brand management teams across all Levi's divisions.